Chapter 234 Supporters of the Fu Han Army

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With the end of summer harvest, the work of officials at all levels of the General's Office has become even busier, because the day for the people to pay taxes and grain has come. In terms of the tax system, the Fu Han General's Office has "learned from" the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as the tax on merchants, salt and iron, the monopoly on wine, the monopoly on tea, the mining and smelting, and miscellaneous taxes, etc. These "good" tax systems need to be inherited. The only change made by the Fu Han Army is the land tax, which is the agricultural tax that has been abolished in China for several years in the 21st century.

Kang Mazi played a trick of "increasing the population in prosperous times, never increasing taxes", which can be said to have won a lot of people's hearts. In later generations, it was also praised by many people as the "first virtuous policy", which is the most direct manifestation of Kang Mazi's "the greatest emperor in history", but the actual effect is what makes people with discerning eyes feel cold. Because this policy is not absolutely equal, 1,000 people collect 1,000 taels of silver, and now the population has become 2,000, and each person collects half a tael of silver, which is not the case. It is "compensation". That is, if a household is assigned a male, the males removed from a household will be compensated by the new males added. This is not enough to compensate for the large number of males in the family, nor is it enough to compensate for the large number of males in the same class. "Li replaces li, class replaces class, and household replaces household": "If a household is removed, another household must replace it; if a household has ten males and nine of them die or flee. If there are no new males to replace them, one male will be used to provide for the labor service of nine males. If the household dies, the class will be added, and if the class dies, the village will be added." In this way, compensation leads to escape, and escape leads to more compensation, which leads to a vicious cycle, making the number of males registered decrease day by day, and the labor service of males heavier day by day.

This is because the Manchu Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty system after entering the pass, and the land tax and male tax were levied separately. Although the Qing government implemented the exemption of money and grain many times, the exemption of land tax did not mean the reduction of male tax. Although the male tax was also exempted many times, the Qing government never conducted a thorough and effective investigation of the population. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the population grew rapidly, but most of them were not registered. In this way, the state could not control and manage these people, and local officials and gentry took the opportunity to exploit them, forcing the poor people to migrate and go into exile. The increasing number of floating populations would inevitably disturb social peace and cause social unrest. Kang Mazi threw out the big pretext of "increasing the population in prosperous times and never increasing taxes", which controlled the population, stabilized the social order, and consolidated the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty. It was considered to have basically fixed the total amount of silver for the people in the country, making the burden of the majority of farmers relatively stable, reducing the number of fleeing people, and being conducive to the development of the national strength of the Qing Dynasty. Most importantly, it laid the foundation for the implementation of the "tax-sharing policy" in the Yongzheng Dynasty.

[It is really a bit too much to praise Kang Mazi's "never increase taxes", but Yongzheng's "tax-sharing policy" is still worthy of recognition for the benefits it brings to the most ordinary farmers. 】

【Among the three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, Yongzheng was the most powerful one】

The tax system of the General's Mansion was different from that of the Qing Dynasty. The General's Mansion completely abolished the head tax, and even the land tax was no longer needed. The grain tax was set very low, only 15% off. Farmers only paid grain tax. As for how many people were in the family, the General's Mansion did not care at all.

In fact, the General's Mansion was using benefits to buy off thousands of farmers under its rule, including gentry and landlords. The grain tax of the General's Mansion was much less than the tax silver collected by the Qing Dynasty. It was a good thing for both farmers and gentry and landlords.

Moreover, the Fu Han Army also set up grain depots in various counties to purchase grain. The price was set quite high, two silver dollars for one stone of wheat. I believe that if the Qing Dynasty had not blocked the entire southwest of Henan, there would definitely be gentry and wealthy families selling grain from outside to resell.

After this summer grain and summer tax, local farmers seemed to have more confidence in the Fu Han Army. Soon, the construction sites were filled with the figures of the people again.

Zhang Fusheng drove a horse-drawn carriage and arrived home slowly.

His home is in the south gate of Nanyang Prefecture. A large area is occupied by the families of the Fu Han Army like Zhang Fusheng.

The size and layout of each household are exactly the same. Looking down from the sky, it can be clearly seen that there are ten households in a small alley, and ten alleys are a piece of land. There are a total of five plots of land here.

The carriage entered the alley and stopped at the door of the first house. This is not Zhang Fusheng's home, but the home of a retired soldier of the Fu Han Army. But he jumped off the carriage and knocked on the door of this house, and soon an old man came out from inside. "Uncle Zhou, I bought you a piece of meat and a fish."

Zhang Fusheng walked into the door with the fish and meat, and the old man couldn't stop him.

"Oh, Fusheng, we have all these. The army didn't forget our pillars, and the subsidy was delivered the day before yesterday..."

The old man couldn't stop Zhang Fusheng, so he could only follow behind. His eldest son Zhou Tiezhu is a disabled veteran. Zhou Tiezhu's younger brother, influenced by his elder brother, is now a bailiff in the Nanyang Prefecture Court and can only go home a few times a month. The people in the kitchen heard the noise, and two women, one old and one young, came out to see. The older one's wet hands were gathering on the apron around her waist.

"Auntie, sister-in-law, cooking." Zhang Fusheng greeted the two women familiarly and handed over the fish in his hand.

"There are some at home. Didn't you see it when the army sent it the day before yesterday..." Disabled veterans like Zhou Tiezhu, in addition to a considerable amount of retirement compensation every month, also have a lifetime allowance for disabled soldiers, which is more than ordinary veterans, and three years of living allowance. Rice, salt, sauce, vinegar, meat, poultry, eggs, sugar, all kinds of things, every month, and extra during festivals.

The old woman said she would not accept anything, and the young one also drank on the side. As family members of the Fu Han Army and disabled soldiers, their family receives enough living allowance every month for them to eat for half a month, which is extremely generous.

Zhang Fusheng was pushing and shoving the old couple when a young man with a cane came out of the house. Soldiers have different tempers. Zhou Tiezhu waved his hand nonchalantly, "Dad, Mom, Brother Fusheng has brought it, you just accept it. Cook two dishes and set a table in the evening, and ask Brother Fusheng and I to have a good drink..."

After saying goodbye to the old man and the old woman who had enthusiastically sent him out, Zhang Fusheng drove the carriage and knocked on the doors of the other two houses in the alley. This was no longer a kind help, but something that the neighbor asked him to buy outside. Who made Zhang Fusheng a member of the grain bureau's transport team, and a veteran who was qualified to bring the carriage home.

Of course, this was also because Zhang Fusheng was an enthusiastic person. Besides, this area was full of military dependents and people from the government system of the Fu Han Army. If he helped someone today and established a relationship, he would have more ways in the future.

Zhang Fusheng returned to his home, and his wife came to greet him with a little girl in her arms and a four-year-old boy in her hand.

With a wife, a family, sons and daughters, and no worries about food and drink, Zhang Fusheng's life is at least better than more than 90% of people in China today.

He moved the green vegetables, white flour, pork and live fish into the kitchen, took out the rattle bought for his son to amuse the child, and took out the few feet of new cloth torn for his wife to show off his achievements. Looking at the happy faces of his wife and children, Zhang Fusheng felt as sweet as eating honey. Isn't this what people live for in life.

So, Zhang Fusheng was not dissatisfied with joining the Fu Han Army. You know, at this time last year, their family still had a meal or two. It was the Fu Han Army that made his family full and his wife kept the baby she was pregnant with. Even if this second child is a loser without a penis.

After removing the horse harness, Zhang Fusheng led the old horse to the stable set up in the southwest corner of the yard and fed it carefully. This horse has been with him for seven or eight months, and he has a lot of feelings for it.

Or it could be said that since he had completely settled down in the Fu Han Army system [the original logistics unit], the horse had followed Zhang Fusheng.

However, it was impossible for every household in the entire base area and the entire Fu Han Army system to live as happily as Zhang Fusheng's family. The families of some disabled and deceased soldiers were also desolate and distressed. But at least some people's lives had changed dramatically from before.

"I didn't go to Yancheng, but to Ye County." At night, at Zhou Tiezhu's house, Zhang Fusheng sat with Zhou Tiezhu and Zhou's father. There was wine and meat in front of the three of them, and they chatted and talked. Zhang Fusheng talked about his previous experience of following the convoy to transport food to the front line.

For the vested interest groups of the Fu Han Army like Zhou Tiezhu, their family was very concerned about the war situation on the front line.

"That place was not affected at all. Even though the Qing soldiers had so many cavalry, none of them could get through Xiping."

"We have many bunkers here, right? Only when we arrived in Ye County did we know how to write the word 'many'. Xiping has many more than Ye County..."

The local grain bureau under the general's mansion, its transport fleet is to some extent an external organization of the logistics troops. They transport part of the food needed by the army directly from the local grain depot to the local area, or transport it to the dock for loading. These people are like old drivers in the 18th century, knowledgeable. And when they chat, they are also endless.

Aunt Zhou and her daughter-in-law were sewing shoe soles in the east room. A wall could not stop her from hearing the noise next door. Aunt Zhou didn't think about whether Zhang Fusheng's words were exaggerated. After hearing these words, she just wanted to feel at ease.

The current life is already a 'paradise' that Aunt Zhou dared not even think about. She knew who the Zhou family relied on to live such a life, and of course she didn't want such a good life to leave their family. Therefore, the people who support the Fu Han Army the most in the base area are not necessarily those officials, but families like the Zhou family.

Whether life is good or bad, the people know it best.

Since the Fu Han Army General's Mansion took control of southwest Henan, the local merchants have suffered the most, because the Qing Dynasty implemented a blockade policy on the base area. The General's Mansion now has some undisclosed routes to Yuzhou, and there is no possibility of large-scale commercial exchanges in other directions. Therefore, the business under the General's Mansion has really suffered a heavy blow.

Without the vast market outside, there is only the narrow market space in southwest Henan, and the war is raging. In this situation, there is no room for business development. In addition, after the General's Mansion stabilized the control of the local area, it implemented a monopoly on salt and iron, and entered into cloth, paper, tung oil, candles, pottery and porcelain production and other aspects, which greatly squeezed the market space.

However, the market entry of "official" enterprises can greatly alleviate the demand of the people in the base area for various materials at the beginning, and can also keep some people's daily necessities at a reliable level.

This situation is not limited to the base in southwestern Henan. Chen Ming's troops currently control Jiujiang Prefecture in Jiangxi, Anqing Prefecture in Anhui, along the Yangtze River from Nanjing to Jiangyin in the south, and Yangzhou Prefecture and part of Nantong Prefecture in the north (all the way to Gaoyou Prefecture in the north). The business has suffered a devastating blow to a certain extent. Because the Qing Dynasty imposed an absolute blockade on the areas controlled by the Fu Han Army, let alone the circulation of bulk goods, even a piece of paper or a bag of salt would not be allowed into the Fu Han Army's jurisdiction.

The difficulty of the Fu Han Army now lies in the formation of a "multi-class interest group". In addition to their own family members, their current supporters are at most some bold farmers, while the gentry, landlords, and wealthy merchants all have a relatively large rejection of the Fu Han Army.